Category: Ironman Training

I signed up for Ironman St. George May 2020. This will be my third St. George and ninth overall, I previously did the inaugural one in 2010 and again in 2011. Looks like IM St. George will also be the North American championship race and will rotate every three years as the designated NA championship race with other events.

I do have to say that St George in 2011 wasn't the best experience. I hit the "why am I doing this?" and "is this it?" walls pretty hard. I wasn't getting any faster, I wasn't competing (just participating), and it felt like a big waste of time and money.

So why sign up again? Being healthy and fit aren't exactly wastes of time and money. Being healthy is probably a good thing. These races are actually pretty fun and I'm locked in with this distance. I just can't get up for shorter distances, I prefer endurance vs. speed. And I miss it. Training is like active meditation for me, and the discipline and consistency it requires helps me with other parts of life that require discipline and consistency.

Anyway, wish me luck. IM St. George is no joke.

I'm getting the bug again to do another Ironman. I'm thinking Ironman Santa Rosa which looks like the old Vineman course. Looks like it'll be some time in May which causes a little bit of a problem because it means I have to train during the Winter time. What's good about an event in May is I can get the rest of the Summer to do whatever I want. 

Not until 2020 though. I can't get in shape for the 2019 race plus I'm already past the deadline for the cheapie registration, it's like a $100-$200 more now.

Doesn't look like there are other races I'm interested to roll into, maybe Ironman Arizona November 2020. We'll see.

I'm doing the SF marathon this Sunday.  It's going to be my fourth time doing this race.  The highlight is running across the Golden Gate bridge.  The low light is all the time spent in Golden Gate Park, we see about every inch of Golden Gate park.  The other low light is that this race has gotten to be too expensive.

I prefer the Oakland marathon that I ran earlier this year.  I like the warts and all course through Oakland much better.  There's more people cheering at the Oakland marathon and the runners seem a little more laid back and a little more entertaining.  Whatever.  Just being cranky/Oakland prideful.

Anyway, SF marathon should be pretty fun.  Weather is always great, overcast, not too cold and not too hot and not windy, perfect running conditions.  The hills are tough though.

Nice infographic from Transition Four

I'm #813, for this second year of Ironman St. George.  While I swore never again to do this race — it's that hard and miserable, I ended up signing up again.

A few reasons:

• I really liked the finisher's shirt and I want another one
• The coach we work with is doing the race, among other friends
• the Utah bike course is gorgeous
• this course kicked my butt last year and I didn't like that
• it's drivable although this year I'm breaking up the drive into two, first LA and then Las Vegas
• needed a race to stay in shape

We'll see how it goes.  Last year I did this race in 15:42:17 (fifteen hours and 42 minutes).  I'm going to see if I can do it in under 14 hours, but I'll be happy to just finish and get my t-shirt.

I ran the Oakland Marathon last Sunday and I had a few notes:

• What a great event!  A challenging "warts and all" route through Oakland — from City Hall to Rockridge to Montclair to the Mormon Temple to International Boulevard to Jack London Square to West Oakland to Lake Merritt and back to City Hall.
• Great crowd throughout the whole course.  Very "homey/welcome" feeling, not like running the San Francisco marathon.
• There was no rain despite the threat of rain, it was pretty good running conditions.  Hoping next year will be the same.
• I used the day as a "training day" if that makes any sense.  I was strong through 20 miles, slowed down a little bit for the next two, and then put it into recovery mode.  Starting a marathon on tired legs is definitely an interesting feeling.
• A marathon is still a marathon.  I was hoping it was going to be easy but I was getting antsy around mile 17.
• The event was well run, some areas could be improved but not bad for their second time around.
• The Expo the day before was a little meager.  Could use some more vendors but the ones that were there were pretty good.
• The medal is nice.
• The shirt, long sleeve again, could've been better.  Needed a better graphic design and maybe a slightly higher quality shirt.
• The massage tent could have been managed better.

I'm hoping to get more people signed up for the race.  I'll likely going to do it again next year.  It was definitely a lot of fun and it's great to have a running event like this in Oakland.

My race schedule for next year:

• March 27 –  Oakland 1/2 or Full Marathon
• May 7 – Ironman St George
• July 30 San Francisco Marathon
• October 1 – Levi's Gran Fondo
• December  3 – NorthFace 50k

I'd like to keep the Summer and Fall open for things other than races but may consider some races depending on who's in.

My base workout locations are: my house in North Oakland near Children's Hospital (bike/run), Temescal Pool, Sports Basement in San Francisco (bike/run), Mike's Bikes Sausalito (bike/run), Tam High School (swim/bike/run), Lunardi's (bike/run).

Will also be doing some trail runs in the East Bay hills (Skyline 50k routes) and in Marin (NorthFace 50k routes).

My fitness goals for 2011 are to maintain my fitness levels from last year, drop some weight, improve my core strength and flexibility, and become a stronger runner.  I'd also like to reconnect with friends/training partners and just have some fun on the road.